Our Fault
by Nana-chan753
Summary: His heart and mind hardened in a way that sill left him vulnerable, Naruto could only watch as his life fell apart around him.


Our Fault

Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto he belongs Masashi Kishimoto. I only intend to write this story for the amusement of the readers.

Summery: His heart and mind hardened in a way that sill left him vulnerable, Naruto could only watch as his life fell apart around him.

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"_We were so cruel to him back then, we would jeer at him merely because we were expected to, plus he never acted like it hurt him to hear our words or to see the looks on our faces. I was part of that crowd, the crowd whose glares spoke volumes at what they felt towards him. I always showed how much I hated him even when I thought it wasn't right. I just kept thinking 'if my parents hate him so much shouldn't I?' That thought was shared by many children my age, in various amounts depending on how passionately their parents hated Naruto. When I sit down and think about it, everything that happened was entirely all our fault"_

_-From the diary of Sakura Haruno age: 25 Village: Konohagakure_

The morning started like any other in Konoha, tense and nerve wrecking, at least for Naruto. Every day started like this, he was used to it and it didn't bother him that few people cared for him. What did bother him was why they didn't care. They seemed to hate his very essence and it took nearly all of the effort he could muster to be able to smile and pull himself out of bed every morning. Even when he wasn't happy he smiled, it seemed to him they were less cruel with their comments and glares when he smiled. Maybe, he thought, maybe it made them feel guilty.

Today he started his routine of getting out of bed, getting dressed, washing his hair, eating breakfast and leaving after he brushed his teeth. He liked to wash his hair, it helped him clear his head so he could think clearly. They never hurt him in the past but he could tell they wanted to. Washing his hair also had a calming effect on him, he felt at peace when washed his hair.

The walk to the academy was quiet and nothing happened, Naruto was relived, sometimes when there were villagers around the killing intent they sent alongside with their glares gave him chilling images of what they wished to do to him. He always saw terrible things, things that would make any average person want to hurl. The worse images were from the ninjas, theirs made the ones from the civilians look tame and docile. That's why he left early for the academy so he could lessen his chances of running into someone.

When he entered the academy, no one was there and that cheered him up a bit. He didn't like to explain himself to any teachers who asked him why he was there so early. He sat himself in the middle of the front row. He liked it there because if you sat there it was easy to be seen and heard, which was what Naruto wanted.

It didn't take long for students to arrive and pretty soon the room was filled up except for a few people. Sasuke was sitting on the left side of the room up by the wall in the front row. Naruto thought of Sasuke as someone whose situation was similar to his except Sasuke was loved unlike Naruto. There was also social status to remember. Sasuke was an Uchiha, one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha. Naruto was an Uzumaki, a clan of nobodies as far as Naruto knew. The village records he found in the library never said anything about the Uzumaki clan so Naruto figured they were either not important or he was born from foreign civilian parents who died the day he was born. Either way Naruto thought him and Sasuke would never see eye to eye in anything. Sometimes Naruto was jealous of Sasuke who seemed to excel in everything with little to no effort while it took all of Naruto's effort to barely get by.

Soon after Shikamaru and Chouji came in, Sakura and Ino rushed down the hallways to claim an empty spot next to Sasuke. For a moment they were wedged in the doorway before they fell down with a loud thump. The two of them ran over to Sasuke, who at this point still hadn't looked up, and asked the same question they asked every day which led to the same argument every time.

"Hey, Sasuke do you want me to sit next to you?" Sakura said in a sugar sweet voice that she probably thought was irresistible but wasn't.

"Move Sakura I was here first and Sasuke wants to sit next to me not you" said Ino in a tone she thought would scare off Sakura. It never did.

"You're lying! Sasuke obviously wants me to sit me by him Ino!" Sakura said in a much harsher tone that did scare Ino a little.

This argument kept up this pattern until Ino was scared enough to give it up for the day. Meanwhile, during the whole argument Sasuke said nothing even though Sakura and Ino were putting words in his mouth. After a while Iruka came in and settled the class down.

The day continued on like usual without a single abnormality, Naruto not understanding much from the lesson, Sasuke knowing all the answers to Iruka's questions and Sakura adoring him for it. Naruto hated this pattern, he wanted it to break; he wanted something different to happen. It did, but not in the way he wanted.

"I have something I want to tell you all before you go," Iruka said, "Two days from now I'm going to be gone for two months to recover from surgery" the look on his face told everyone that he was not going to answer any questions.

'Ah heck' Naruto thought 'a substitute? The person who is going to be his temporary replacement will probably hate me'. The sheer possibility of his thoughts weighed on him, he felt like a giant weight was thrown on his back and was somehow stuck there.

The news interested some of the students but most didn't care, like Sasuke. This upset Iruka, but only for a moment since he had better things to worry about then why his students were being unusually disconnected, like his surgery in two days. He was about to leave when Naruto walked up to him and murmured something.

"Don't go," softly and breathlessly he rushed his next words, "don't leave me here with a stranger who'll probably hate me like all the others!"

It was a close guarded secret that Iruka cared for Naruto like a son and although he wished he could protect Naruto from all the world's evils he knew he couldn't. Nonetheless, he tried his best to secretly make Naruto's life easier. He bought Naruto food and clothes, he paid his rent, and every now and then came over to clean Naruto's apartment. But what Naruto really needed was love and Iruka couldn't give him that, at least not publicly.

"Sorry," Iruka said, "I can't pick who replaces me and this surgery can't wait," He lowered his head solemnly and said his next words slowly and carefully, "you're just going to have to deal with it, just keep smiling like you always do". He walked away, half expecting Naruto to say something and half expecting him to say nothing. He was not surprised when Naruto was silent as he walked out the room.

By now all of the students were gone and it was just Naruto. Naruto was silent when Iruka left; there was nothing to say. After a moment he gathered his wits and walked out the door hoping that the new substitute would not hate him and that for the next two months he would not have to deal with an insurmountable enemy.


End file.
